Los Angeles County Fire Department Battalion Chief Mike Brown said today that county agencies were working closely to coordinate their efforts in advance of the strong winter-like storm, which is expected to dump 3 to 6 inches of rain across charred foothill areas beginning Tuesday night.

"We'll be out monitoring the hillsides," said Brown, who oversees rescue units in the La Cañada-Flintridge areas.

The storm is expected to drop rain through early Wednesday morning, according to the National Weather Service. The system, which generated off the Gulf of Alaska, will be driven by strong southerly winds, intensifying rainfall on the southern slopes of foothill areas charred by the mammoth Station fire that broke out in late August.

-- Robert J. Lopez

Map:Locations of Los Angeles County Fire Department stations where residents can pick up free sandbags. Credit: Los Angeles Times